Shrewsbury's North West Relief Road 'undermined by new study'
The business case for Shrewsbury’s North West Relief Road has been undermined by a new study, say local campaigners.
The Impact of Road Projects in England study, carried out by the Transport for Quality of Life consultancy, looked at road schemes built in the country over the past 20 years.
Shrewsbury Friends of the Earth say the NWRR is a scheme “too far” and has “dubious benefits”.
The study looked at traffic figures from 13 road schemes and found evidence of large increases in traffic as a result of the schemes, with increases of up to 47 per cent, over and above any background rise in traffic.
Dave Green, of Shrewsbury Friends of the Earth, said: “According to Shropshire Council the NWRR would reduce traffic on Smithfield Road by three per cent, we have always said that this is optimistic and that any benefit would not last long, this report confirms our stance.”
The report also questions the economic benefit of building roads, citing that “of 25 schemes justified on the basis that they would benefit the local economy only five had any evidence of economic impact”.
Also where roads were built to allow for an expanding economy they tend to lead to further development in car dependent locations causing rapid traffic growth and further congestion.
Mr Green added: “This study of economic effects of road building is another blow to those who propose building the NWRR.
“If Shropshire Council want to proceed they will need to find at least £21m of the cost locally with no evidence that this will ease congestion or benefit the local economy, there has to be better ways of spending this money.”
The Campaign to Protect Rural England commissioned the study and its conclusion is that new roads should be built as a last resort only after all other options have been fully implemented and measures taken to lock in any benefits.
Mr Green said: “We have not objected to the other roads built around Shrewsbury but the NWRR is a scheme too far, with dubious benefits, high costs and huge environmental impact.
“Shropshire Council have done some good work on transport in Shrewsbury and have further schemes planned under their Shrewsbury Integrated Transport Package."
Mr Green added: “The Shropshire BID team also have ideas to reduce traffic in the town centre, we support these schemes and consider that they should be fully implemented and extended rather than wasting money on building yet more roads.”
